MMX 2024 event looks to strategy and deployment to accelerate Additive Manufacturing
August 16, 2024
America Makes, Youngstown, Ohio, USA, hosted its 12th Annual Members Meeting and Exchange (MMX), on August 6-7 in Canfield, Ohio. The two-day event was attended by over 350 members of the institute’s community and, in addition to the America Makes leadership team, speakers took to the stage to share insights, updates, and calls to action focused on accelerating the AM industry.
Institute updates
As in past years, MMX 2024 opened with America Makes Executive Director, John Wilczynski, offering the organisation’s State of the Union. Together with Robyn Vialva, PhD, Government Program Manager, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wilczynski shared highlights from a year of growth for the industry and the institute. America Makes has reached a record high of 294 members from industry, academia, and government who collectively contribute to shared goals for domestic Additive Manufacturing. The current portfolio comprises an outstanding 325 projects with a total value of $509.4 million.
“We have a strong focus on strategic communications, making sure our learnings are available to the community,” Wilczynski noted, highlighting a major theme of MMX 2024.
Dr Vialva and Wilczynski also discussed the recent evaluation process and recommendations by the Joint Defense Manufacturing Council (JDMC), which Wilczynski boiled down to two major questions: have we performed well? Do we have a plan?
Vialva reiterated that the work should continue, noting that the JDMC recommends a five-year strategy to tackle new challenges and expand satellite centres and regional models.
Diversifying ecosystem A major part of continuing the work of America Makes lies in the expansion of its strategic pillars: technology, education & workforce development, and ecosystem. With its membership spanning forty-nine states and over twenty regions, the ecosystem pillar is vital, noted Kimberly Gibson, Ecosystem Director, as she presented a new strategic plan
“Today’s diverse AM ecosystem, combined with its maturation, has introduced new dynamics that challenge the traditional models,” Gibson explained.
The diversification among hardware, software, materials, and processes has necessitated a more connected approach to managing innovation and scaling new technologies. Gibson also noted that profitability requirements for companies and internal divisions are now more stringent, driving the need not only to innovate but also to ensure that innovations are economically viable. Additionally, the shifting landscape of private and public funding has altered risk profiles requiring a more nuanced understanding of investment and returns.
“These challenges have collectively prompted the need to shape the growth path of the ecosystem, ensuring America Makes remains at the forefront of the industry’s evolution. This strategic pivot is not just about adapting to change but about leading it, ensuring the nation’s manufacturing sector remains competitive on the global stage,” Gibson said.
Technology growth advances the ecosystem
Brandon Ribic, PhD, Technology Director at America Makes, offered an overview of how the Institute’s newly-expanded technology team – comprised of Ribic, AM Research Director John Martin, and Technology Transition Director Ben DiMarco – is “structurally designed to leverage the necessary skills and expertise to ensure success.”
The dissemination and scaling of knowledge in this way, allowing all members access to research and data, was a fundamental component echoed by several speakers.
Further, Dr Ribic noted, three roadmaps offer the Technology pillar’s approach to industrialising AM technologies:
- AM Technology Roadmap (Tech Maturation Needs)
- Department of Defense (DoD) AM Roadmaps (Mission and Application Alignment)
- Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC) Roadmap (Standardization)
“America Makes has led or partnered in the coordination of over $1 billion in strategic investment by the US government since 2012, with approximately $40 million research funding since MMX 2023,” Dr Ribic stated. The technology team has an eight-year strategic research and development (R&D) investment plan composed of eighty-eight tasks and subtasks detailing potential approaches, outcomes, and impacts for each task.
K through grey
Day two of MMX opened with an update on the Institute’s Education and Workforce Development (EWD) strategy, led by Director Josh Cramer. He presented on the mission of partnership and collaboration anchored in industry and DoD needs to create a strong pipeline for AM talent in the US.
Referred to as ‘K through Grey,’ the initiative engages learners of all ages – more than 80,000 total to date – to widen the funnel in this talented and growing workforce. With an Additive Manufacturing workforce that currently needs 50,000 workers and growing, Cramer noted that the EWD portfolio has twenty-one active projects with $29.3 million of total value as this work continues to grow the AMNation by expanding with new digital assets such as AMJobs, Edge Factor, AMNation Pipeline Portal, and AMTrain.
Achievements and impacts
Concluding the America Makes leadership overview, Operations Director Alexander Steeb highlighted the achievements and impacts from the past year.
The community welcomed fifty-two new members, launched sixty additional projects, uploaded 2,611 deliverable artefacts into CORE (an increase of 358 since last July), and presented fifty-six thought leadership pieces to share insights and advancements.
Key insights
MMX 2024 succeeded in featuring leaders in the Additive Manufacturing industry and hosted numerous panel discussions which highlighted member perspectives on AM supply chains and strategies in aligning workforce development. Mark Cotteleer, Ph.D., Managing Director, Government & Public Service Supply Chain and Network Operations, Deloitte Consulting, moderated a panel on regionalisation and the US industrial base.
The opening keynote address was presented by Terry Wohlers, Head of Advisory Services & Market Intelligence, Wohlers Associates, powered by ASTM International.
“It’s great to see all that’s happened since 2012,” he stated. Wohlers’ overview of AM and its future explained that applications will drive growth for the industry. The development of materials and machines is what will move the needle, while sustainability is increasingly in focus. Further, for the US to continue to drive Additive Manufacturing on a global stage it must pay attention to industries in China, which is ‘not sitting still.’
“I see Additive Manufacturing as pivotal in the Space Force’s ability to outpace our space challengers,” stated David Beck, PhD., Principal, Space Industrial Base Office, U.S. Space Force. “As AM industry stakeholders research and develop innovative technologies, focus should be on slower startup costs, design freedom, faster turnaround times from concept to prototype, repeatability, and increased efficiency. Dimensions of the space industrial base that have the opportunity to improve include scalability, capacity, sustainability, and resiliency.”
Back-to-back speakers, Vyshi Suntharalingam, PhD, MBA, Chief Technology & Engineering Officer at the DoD Office of Strategic Capital, and Barbara Ewing, CEO of the Youngstown Business Incubator, emphasised the financial challenges facing small and medium businesses (SMMs) in the US Additive Manufacturing industry. With many SMMs dependent on private investment to drive technological advancements, securing financing and raising awareness is crucial. The positive news is that offices like Dr Suntharalingam’s and incubators like Ewing’s are aware of these needs and are actively collaborating with America Makes and its members to connect SMMs with the necessary resources.
Building on this, a presentation delivered by Joe Compton, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs Execution Chief, offered perspective on how to ‘get the right investments to the right technologies’ such as through SBIR/STTR programmes.
